a) Field of the Invention
Generally speaking, the field of this concept relates to apparatuses for extracting injured emergency care workers or emergency workers such as firemen, first aid, first response, industrial hazard workers, military rescue personnel, and other individuals who enter into highly hostile environments. The concept deals with attaching in some form a transportation device to the back of the injured emergency worker to facilitate ease of transportation or extraction of the injured personnel out of the hostile environment.
b) Background Art
Self-contained breathing apparatuses or SCBAs are used by emergency workers such as firemen, first aid, first response, industrial hazard workers, military rescue personnel, and other individuals who enter into highly hostile environments to mitigate the emergency. These hostile environments include earthquake zones, fire zones, industrial contamination sites such as natural gas leaks, and other areas which require the use of a self-contained breathing apparatus to enable the emergency worker to operate within that hostile environment.
In discussing fire departments and fire response teams, there are specific modes of operation or standards in place to rescue a fireman who has been injured and incapacitated. Generally the firemen entering into a superheated environment weigh between 250-300 lbs. gross weight making it very difficult to extract the fireman from the burning building. Therefore the firemen train for that specific weight and cannot in certain instances qualifies for positions on the fire department team if they cannot pull the dead weight of such an injured fireman. In addition, when an actual fireman is injured in a burning building for example, the rescue team is made up of 3-4 firemen entering into the building to extract the injured team member. They may have to take in equipment to adequately secure the injured team member so as not to further exacerbate the individual's injury, or it may be that the grouping of 3-4 individuals makes it cumbersome to extract the injured person.
The following prior art discusses in some form rescue devices for transporting an injured rescue worker or injured person.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,845,533 (Tulette) discloses a patient transport board which seems to be used for ambulance and emergency care workers. The board has a flat rigid surface on which the patient lies and restraining straps are provided to secure the patient. At the back of the rigid board are a pair of foldable rail members which run the entire length of the board and which are attached to the outside longitudinal edge of the board and can be pivoted and extended so that the patient can be moved down a flight of stairs. A skid plate is also provided at the foot end of the board to allow for positioning of the patient in somewhat of an upright position when moving through tight spaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,824,150 (Simione) discloses a cart for transportation of personnel and material in hazardous environments. The cart is made of fire protective materials and is also designed to be buoyant and float. In general, this seems to be more of a gurney-type transportation device which has extendable head frame and leg frame support portions and is also designed to be separately brought into the emergency situation at which time the rescuers would load the injured individual onto the gurney.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,799,769 (Ziolkowski) discloses a welding cylinder dolly or in other words a hand truck, which enables individuals to load, unload and transport cylindrical objects from one location to another. The hand truck or transport uses a pair of vertical support members which act together and form a forwardly facing contact area joined by a cross member having a recessed configuration. An adjustable restraining strap has a free end with an attachment member and an opposing anchor end to substantially encircle the cylindrical object and frictionally retain it between the cross members and the restraining strap.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,565,103 (Wilson) discloses a scuba tank caddie having an optional gear drying rack and an optional portable shower, and its method of fabrication. Referring to column 2 at line 65, the scuba tank caddie has a tank holder which holds at least one tank. The tank holder has a top and a bottom with a rear wall and floor for supporting the tank itself, an axle which is two ends and is rotatably mounted to the tank holder and two wheels. The wheels may be retractable for using the caddie in water and also storage of the caddie when not in use. The retracting means in the current embodiment is an over center cam lever. A handle has a handle stem and handle bar which is coaxially oriented and can be collapsed or extended. Also further down in column 3 at line 57, a reservoir is provided for storing a volume of fresh water in combination with a low pressure quick disconnect hose to transmit the fluid from the reservoir to a showerhead to provide for showering.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,341,789 (Checa et al) discloses a two wheeled hand cart for transporting scuba gear. As you and I previously discussed, transportation of the scuba gear is very similar to the self-contained breathing apparatus which firemen and rescue workers use. Thus the scuba transportation devices are somewhat relevant, although one element is generally missing from these concepts and that is the addition of the person being rescued onto the back of the scuba tank. The cart in this situation comprises an elongated sheet having a top end and a bottom end, a planar front surface and a generally planar back surface. At the base is attached a pair of guides or wheels which are connected between an elongated shaft. The scuba gear can be loaded onto this hand cart and transported to the dive location.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,983 (Day) discloses a portable combination hand truck and valet valise. The hand truck has a hinged double shell which is foldable into a closed position, creating a tube like enclosure when stored, and when opened provides the frame for the hand cart. Referring to column 2 around line 12, a pair of wheels are sized to fit within the tube and adapted for easy attachment to and detachment from the axle. A handle is attachable to the hinged double shell in the open position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,351 (Garofalo et al) discloses a cylinder carrier which is made of an elongated post and includes a sleeve and an extension piece retained within the sleeve. The extension piece has a handle at the protruding end to operate the carrier. At the base of the carrier are a pair of cylinder rests on either side of the vertical sleeve. The cylinder rests can be folded up against the vertical sleeve for storage. Cylinder straps are positioned approximately mid-height of the vertical sleeve and are disposed to retain the cylinders on top of the rests. A pair of shoulder straps are attached to the vertical sleeve or post to be worn on the back of the carrier. Two small wheels are located at the bottom or base of the vertical post or sleeve for transportation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,346 (Stadler et al) discloses a scuba tote which has wheels at the base and a cover with formfitting recesses to store the scuba tanks. Within the recesses at the top and bottom, are shelves to maintain the position of the tanks. The interior of the cover or body is sealed to keep a constant atmospheric pressure for pressure equalization purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,393,080 (Ross) discloses an aquatic air tank dolly which has a cup to secure the base of the tank and supports connected to wheels for conveniently moving the tank. Side rails are attached to the cup at the base of the tank and also attached to the valve stem at the top of the tank. The side rails are adapted for supporting additional diving equipment
U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,670 (Clements et al) discloses a detachable scuba tank overland transport device which enables users to move scuba tanks over ground instead of having to carry the device. The transport has an elongated axle with a wheel rotatably mounted at the ends of the axle. Two small tank-engaging members are provided and connected to the axle. The tank-engaging members are rotatable about the axle from a stored position to an open position. One of the members has a support platform for supporting the scuba tank; each member has a sidewall engaging portion for engaging the sidewall of a scuba tank inserted between the sidewall engaging portions and resting upon the support platform.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,714 (Ziaylek Jr. et al) discloses a mounting plate with rollers, the mounting plate is the type that is generally used by firemen or firefighters and rescue or emergency squads. The rollers themselves are connected to the free ends of the springlike clamp arms which contain the air cylinder. The location and extent or projection of the rollers on the clamp arms makes the insertion and removal of the air cylinders or self-contained breathing apparatus more efficient.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,815,761 (Henderson) discloses an amphibious scuba assist device which is designed to help diverse transport scuba tanks and other diving gear across sandy beaches and other shoreline and also is provided as an offshore floating work platform and a dive flag holder during diving operations. The frame is configured using a hollow tubing and has a forward member, a rearward or aft member, and two side members. Handle members extend along the sides and support the buoyant plastic foam cylinders connected to the handle. The frame carriers support surface and straps retain the tanks and other gear on the frame.